The bike target was 100 miles a week and I was very happy to hit that, mainly down to getting onto the turbo in the hotel when I was working away these past few months. The Raid du Massif Central was a real high point in my cycling life but, with the benefit of hindsight, doing my one big event at the end of May led to a very low key second half of the year. I was up to 3000 miles after 5 months and only did one ride of over 80 miles after that. Still, the main thing was that I enjoyed it all and so long as I can keep on doing that, life will be relatively un-heavy, which is the ultimate aim.

I expected to mix up my summer activity with swimming but never felt the love. After my first 2km river swim when I got back from France, I got back in the following week but turned back half way and that was the end of that. There will come a point when I want to swim again, it’s just not now.

Running has been underwhelming. I ran in 2 blocks during the year, 6 runs in Jan/Feb and 5 in September, all under 4 miles. I keep hoping that things will suddenly get a bit easier but once I get over 3 miles, the ankle starts to hurt and any attempt to run twice in a week results in more pain than I want to deal with. I suspect that I could push through this if I really want to – when I first started running after my accident, I would be barely able to walk for 1-2 days after a race or hard training run. In comparison, the pain and stiffness now is very mild but the determination is just not there. Little things like giving Henry a piggyback up or down stairs become difficult when the ankle hurts and I worry about falling and him getting hurt, so it just seems easier to give it a miss.

So, basically, I’m a cyclist for now. The secret for me has been to vary my routes as much as possible, whilst maintaining some continuity in order to see myself progressing as I’ve got fitter. When I look back to my tri training, I had a very limited range of routes which I think reflects that cycling was very much my least favourite discipline. I think 2009 was a previous high point and I added up the total distance to about 3,500 miles – however, what I’d never appreciated fully was that once Norseman was over in early August I only cycled a couple of hundred miles in the remainder of the year.
I avoided Strava for a long while but signed up in a very low key way during the summer and have to say it’s been well worth it. Whilst some of the data is a bit naff, I can see where on rides I could work harder and have made things a bit more structured as a consequence. Seeing other peoples’ training has also given me ideas to keep my own routes fresh. All in all, helpful for the type of pedalling I do now.

For 2018, my main target is to beat my 5241 miles cycled in 2017. I’m also going to try and hit 100km of ascent. The first 6 weeks have gone well so far and motivation is high – long may it continue.
I have signed up for Raid Corsica at the end of September, which should keep me motivated all summer – it’s a bit less hilly than my previous two trips but distance per day is further, 1000km in 6 days! Going further always seems harder for me than more ascent so I expect this to be a decent challenge.
I’ve also signed up for Coast-to-Coast in a day which at c150 miles will be my longest ever ride. Quite a few from Chester Tri are doing it so should be a good day out. Also on the list is the 100 mile Forest of Bowland sportif as a warm-up and I might do the 103 mile Peak District epic as well.

All in all, should be a busy year._________________Almost back to being an athlete in 2016